Iran restores 60 mcm/day of South Pars gas output lost in war, governor says
Iran has restored 60 million cubic meters per day of natural gas production lost after damage to South Pars facilities during the US-Israeli war, and efforts are continuing to recover the remaining capacity, the governor of Bushehr Province said on Monday.
Speaking at a meeting with Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni in Tehran, Arsalan Zare said rapid reconstruction of damaged oil, gas and petrochemical facilities remained one of the southern province's top priorities because continued operations were essential for employment, the country's energy supply and the economy, ISNA reported.
He said reconstruction work was being carried out by Iranian engineers, specialists and technical personnel.
Israeli air strikes in March damaged several gas-processing facilities along the coast of Bushehr Province. Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said in June that Iran had restored about 30 million cubic meters of the lost gas-processing capacity. Executive Vice President Mohammad Jafar Qaempanah also said last month that the attacks had taken about 230 million cubic meters of Iran's gas production capacity offline and that 100 million cubic meters was expected to be restored within the next few months.
The loss is significant compared with Iran's daily gas production of about 650 million cubic meters and has added to the country's existing gas imbalance.
Iran has remained on a war footing since a US-Israeli coalition launched attacks on Iran on Feb. 28.
The country holds the world's second-largest natural gas reserves. South Pars, which Iran shares with Qatar, is the world's largest natural gas field.
Phase 11 output to hit full capacity in two months
The first production block of South Pars Phase 11 is expected to reach its nameplate production capacity within the next two months, marking a new stage in the development of the strategic project, according to the project's executive.
Keivan Tariqati, head of the South Pars Phase 11 development project, told Shana that 11 wells had already entered production and that drilling, completion and tie-in work on the remaining wells was progressing as planned.
"Based on the current plan, with the completion of drilling operations and the commissioning of the wells under development, the first block of Phase 11 is expected to reach its nameplate capacity of more than 28 million cubic meters of raw gas per day, equivalent to 1 billion cubic feet per day, within the next two months. The project will then enter the production stabilization stage."
The project, being developed by Pars Oil and Gas Company on behalf of the National Iranian Oil Company, is valued at nearly $4 billion. Its ultimate goal is to achieve sustainable production of 2 billion cubic feet per day of raw gas from the strategic section of the shared field.
Under the Phase 11 development plan, the project includes the construction and installation of offshore facilities at two border locations and the drilling of 27 wells. As additional wells gradually come on stream, the project is expected to increase Iran's production capacity from the shared South Pars field and help reduce the country's gas imbalance.